Some letting and estate agents you compete against will act
immorally, whist some will take actions that are against the law, all to make a
few pound notes. Hell, some of your competition will lie to land a deal. The
agent will say whatever they believe their prospective landlord or vendor wants
to hear, knowing it is not the genuine or even true. You may be perturbed and thoroughly
narked off knowing that they are lying and the worst part ... winning.
Some agents will tell their prospective landlords and
potential vendors what they want to hear in order to suck up to that prospective
landlord and potential vendor. They would rather have their business than tell
them what they really need to hear.A few of your competitor estate and letting
agents will speak ill of you and your agency to win an instruction. I wouldn’t blame
you if you became frustrated and annoyed to learn that ‘those swine’s down the
road’ are trying to make themselves look better by calling you all the names
under the sun.
Forget you are an agent for second .. in life, none of these
strategies are effective long term, so why would they work in lettings and
estate agency? In fact, over time these strategies back fire on the ones who
use them. An agent may effectively lie to win an instruction or sale, but over
time that lie will be exposed, and the agent who lied will no longer be
credible. People and agencies that try to win by using strategies that are immoral
or illegal get a different kind of press when these ‘dodgy dealings’ are exposed.
Ultimately, you Mr or Mrs Estate and Letting Agent are going to judged by who
you are, not what your competitor estate and letting agents say about you.
Let’s face it, you can not control the underhand or dodgy tactics
that other agents use to pursue and win new instructions or sales. The only
thing that you can control is who you are and who you are going to be. If you
decide to do the right thing, be someone and something different, to rise above
playground tactics, to rise above it all, you will, eventually, be known for
being those things, even if it takes a hell of long time for this to be known.
... but if you are in this game of lettings and estate agency for the long game
.. What’s the issue?
Moral fibre is the long game. Mr/s Letting and Estate Agent,
who you are going to be has nothing to do with the choices that other nasty agents
make about who they are going to be. Your moral fibre is your business – and no
one else’s.
If you are going to be an estate or letting agent for the
next 20, 30 even 40 years, then you are in this game for a long time. A bad reputation
sticks yet but a good one will eventually take you far. What do you want other
people to think of you in future, see almost as your living legacy, because no
matter hard nosed or indifferent you are, everyone craves the esteem of their
colleagues, friends and peers. The point is, the difference that you are going
to make is solely up to you Mr or Mrs Estate and Letting Agent, and it has
nothing at all to do with the fact that other agents aren’t considering their
legacy. Your legacy is your business, not someone else's